The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1887-03-05
The Training of Children.
Christian Advocate.

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The loving instruction OF mother
may seem to have been thrown away,
but it will appear after many days.
when I;was little child, said a.good
old man, my mother used to bid me
kneel down beside her, and place her
hand upon my head while she prayed.
Ere was ole. enough to know her worth
she died, and l was.left too much. to my
own guidance. Like others, | was in
clined to evil passions, but often felt
myself checked and, as it were, drawn
back by a soft hand upon my head.
When young man | travelled in foreign
lands, and was exposed to many temp
tations; but when would have yielded,
that same hand was upon my head, and
| was saved l seemed to feel its pres
sure as in the happy days of my infancy;
and sometimes there came with it voice
in my heart, voice that was obeyed:
%, do not this wickedness, my son, nor
sin against God.''
With children you must mix gentle
ness with frmness. "A man who is
learning to play on trumpet and
petted child are two very disagreeable
companions If a mother never has
headaches through rebuking her little
children, she shall have plenty of heart
aches when they grow up.
At the same time a mother should not
hamper her child with unnecessary, fool
ch t. falyo TO
fancy that your boy is made of glass,
and always telling him not to do this,
and not to do that, for fear of his break
ing himself. On the principle, never
to give pain unless it is to prevent
greater pain, you should grant every re-
quest which is at all reasonable, and let
him see that your denial of thing is
for his own good and not simply to save
trouble; but once having duly settled
thing, hold to it. Unless child learns
from the first that his mothers yea is
yea, and her nay is nay, it will get into
the habit of whining and endeavoring
to coax her out of her refusal, and her
authority will soon be gone.
Happiness is the natural condition of
every normal child, and if the small boy
or girl has peculiar facility tor any one
thing it is for self-entertainment-with
certain granted conditions, of course.
One of these is physical freedom, and
few rude and simple playthings. Agree
able occupation is as great necessity for
children as for adults, and beyond this
almost nothing can be contributed to
the real happiness of child.
4 try so hard to make my children
happyl' said mother, with sigh, one
day, in despair at her efforts.
Stop trying exclaimed practical
friend at her elbow, 'and do as neigh
Dor of mine does.
sAnd how is that?' she asked dole
fully.
why, she simply lets her children
grow and develop naturally, only de-
veloping their growth properly. She
has always thrown them, as far as prac-
tical, upon their own resources; taught
them to wait upon themselves, no matter
how many servants she had; and to
construct their own playthings. When
she returns home from an absence, they
await but one thing-their mothers kiss.
Whatever has been bought for them is
bestowed when the needed time comes.
Nothing exciting is allowed to them at
night, and they go to bed and to sleep
in wholesome mental state, that inSureS
restful slumber. They are taught to
love nature, and to feel that there is
nothing arrayed SO finely as the lily of
the field, and birds, and the butterflies;
that there is nothing so mean as lie,
nor anything so miserable as disobedi-
ence; that it is a disgrace to be sick,
and that good health, good teeth, and
good temper come from plain food,
plenty of sleep, and being good In
order to thrive children require GER
tain amount of letting alone. Supreme
faith in the mother, few toys, no fnery,
plain food, no drugs, and early to bed
are the best things for making them
happy.